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Manxman Officially Joins Isle of Man Steam Packet Fleet at Shipyard Handover Ceremony in South Korea

12th May 2023
The new flagship Manxman, the largest ever built for the Isle of Man Steam Packet was officially transferred from the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) in a handover ceremony to the Company in Ulsan, South Korea, Asia. The Manxman is to depart on the delivery voyage tomorrow, 13 May and make a maiden arrival to the Isle of Man towards the end of June.
The new flagship Manxman, the largest ever built for the Isle of Man Steam Packet was officially transferred from the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) in a handover ceremony to the Company in Ulsan, South Korea, Asia. The Manxman is to depart on the delivery voyage tomorrow, 13 May and make a maiden arrival to the Isle of Man towards the end of June. Credit: isleofmansteampacket-facebook

Manxman the newbuild flagship of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company has officially joined the fleet during a transfer of ownership ceremony that took place in a shipyard in South Korea.

At a ceremony held at the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD), Lars Ugland, Chairman of the Board of the IOM Packet Co, signed the official documentation to complete the transfer of ownership on behalf of the Company.

The documentation to mark the transfer of the largest ferry built for the Steam Packet was completed at 11:40 South Korea time (03:40 BST) on the 11th May.

Mr HR Kim, President and CEO of Hyundai Mipo Dockyard also signed on behalf of the shipbuilders.

The historic moment brings to a close the newbuild phase of the project that began with the selection of Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in July 2020.

As Afloat reported, sea trials were completed at the end of April and the Manxman is now in the charge of Captain Andy Atkinson and Chief Engineer Dean Ellis.

Final preparations for departure of the 23 delivery voyage from Asia to Europe is to start tomorrow, 13 May.

During the voyage, six ports of call will be involved before arriving in UK waters, however this will firstly be to a port on the south coast of England.

This is to enable installation of final fixtures and fittings.

It is expected the Manxman will arrive in the Isle of Man ‘towards the end of June’, said the Steam Packet.

The Manxman Afloat adds is to replace the 25 year old Ben-My-Chree which was also custom-built for the company in 2008 at a Dutch shipyard.

The 'Ben' since then has been the main ferry operating the Douglas-Heysham route and during peak times operates seasonal sailings to Belfast.

In the early years, the ropax had also called to Dublin port, again during busy times.

Published in Shipyards
Jehan Ashmore

About The Author

Jehan Ashmore

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Jehan Ashmore is a marine correspondent, researcher and photographer, specialising in Irish ports, shipping and the ferry sector serving the UK and directly to mainland Europe. Jehan also occasionally writes a column, 'Maritime' Dalkey for the (Dalkey Community Council Newsletter) in addition to contributing to UK marine periodicals. 

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Shipyards

Afloat will be focusing on news and developments of shipyards with newbuilds taking shape on either slipways and building halls.

The common practice of shipbuilding using modular construction, requires several yards make specific block sections that are towed to a single designated yard and joined together to complete the ship before been launched or floated out.

In addition, outfitting quays is where internal work on electrical and passenger facilities is installed (or upgraded if the ship is already in service). This work may involve newbuilds towed to another specialist yard, before the newbuild is completed as a new ship or of the same class, designed from the shipyard 'in-house' or from a naval architect consultancy. Shipyards also carry out repair and maintenance, overhaul, refit, survey, and conversion, for example, the addition or removal of cabins within a superstructure. All this requires ships to enter graving /dry-docks or floating drydocks, to enable access to the entire vessel out of the water.

Asides from shipbuilding, marine engineering projects such as offshore installations take place and others have diversified in the construction of offshore renewable projects, from wind-turbines and related tower structures. When ships are decommissioned and need to be disposed of, some yards have recycling facilities to segregate materials, though other vessels are run ashore, i.e. 'beached' and broken up there on site. The scrapped metal can be sold and made into other items.